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“My family is OK, parents are OK, my older brother’s OK,” said Pawan Dhakal, a junior majoring in physics who is originally from Kathmandu.

One of Dhakal’s brothers reported back to him that the area outside of the capital city and some rural communities experienced utter devastation.

"He found one village where only two houses remained. There was no one to help the people there, and people were helping each other out. They were taking the dead bodies out and burying them," Dhakal said.

Dhakal and other students, along with Professor Sienna Craig -- associate professor of anthropology and chair of the department at Dartmouth -- are attempting to organize both short- and long-term assistance starting immediately by scanning social media for information that will pinpoint areas where earthquake victims are most in need.

"Many of you in this room have mapping or GIS expertise enough to get to work," said Craig.

The Dartmouth community already has quite a bit of experience with major international relief efforts with its response and ongoing activity in Haiti, which was devastated by an earthquake in 2010.

"There is a limited time -- attention span, almost -- of responses to these kinds of disasters," said Dr. Peter Wright, professor of pediatrics at Geisel School of Medicine.

Wright, who was deeply involved in Haiti, told Dartmouth’s Nepali students and other Nepalese at the meeting that they would be the most effective at spreading awareness.

"You guys are going to have to take the lead because you have the best story to tell,” said Wright.

Khadka will say goodbye to his wife and two young daughters in Lebanon and fly back home to Nepal on Friday. Upon arriving in Kathmandu, he'll connect with his old medical school friends and get right to work.